hilaryfromwestlake village

Q: Attempting to retrieve files off hard drive via terminal

I have a 2011 Macbook Pro running Mavericks. Recently it froze and upon restarting I was met with the dreaded circle with a line through it. Here is what I've tried:


The Macintosh HD is greyed out or ghosted so there is no booting from there. It appears the partition is missing.  Unable in recovery mode to reinstall the OS via internet recovery nor (yes, I know…learned the hard way to not put off backing up) backup. I have taken it to Apple Genius bar and the hard drive is fine.I'm trying to recover any photos, documents, etc off the drive and Apple attempted to retrieve via their OS as well as Target Disk Mode which also was unsuccessful. Apple's advice was to wipe clean and reinstall the OS losing everything or trying an outside vendor that may be able to retrieve files. My understanding that is rather costly hence my desperate attempt at doing this myself. I thought I could run a program such as DiskDrill etc from external drive but don't know how to access/run programs off the external drive via terminal?


I'm attempting through terminal to retrieve manually any folders possible. I am not code literate yet can follow instructions well. I've been relying on code I've picked up on other Apple forum threads. I am unable to even find the main folders expected i.e. Documents, Pictures, Applications etc. My understanding is upon typing in cd / and ls that I should see all the folders which I'm not. I've attached a picture of the screen as I have no way of copying and pasting the results.


ANY suggestions or exact coding would be appreciated. I'm not even sure at this point this is feasible. Thanks in advance. IMG_3739.JPG

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Mar 30, 2016 12:03 PM

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Q: Attempting to retrieve files off hard drive via terminal

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  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Mar 30, 2016 4:47 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2016 4:47 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village

    Try using 'ditto' - man ditto

    /usr/bin/ditto -X --rsrc −−extattr −qtn −−acl −−preserveHFSCompression  /from/directory  /destination/directory
    

    I think this will copy the entire directory tree from whatever you specify as the from directory to the destination directory


    You should do some simple experiments on small directories to make sure it is working as expected, before doing huge transfers.

  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Mar 30, 2016 5:02 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2016 5:02 PM in response to BobHarris

    Thanks for the reply BobHarris. I will give this a try. I'm assuming (after your suggestion of experimenting) that I use that code exactly. Spaces as seen and starting with /usr not including 01.

     

    As to the experimenting with small directories, how would I identify those?

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Mar 30, 2016 5:29 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2016 5:29 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village

    The 01 is from the forum software, as in a line number, if I had included multiple lines, but since there was only 1 line, there is just 01

     

    Not exactly, as /from/directory and /destination/directory are just placeholders for the paths you want to use.

  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Mar 30, 2016 5:57 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 30, 2016 5:57 PM in response to BobHarris

    Thanks! I'll give it a try

  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Mar 31, 2016 1:57 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 1:57 PM in response to BobHarris

    I tried what you recommended and was returned with "invalid option --q. I attached a photo. I may be putting too many spaces etc. IMG_3744.JPG

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Mar 31, 2016 2:21 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 31, 2016 2:21 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village

    my options example was wrong.  There should be 2 dashes before --qtn

     

    Also there is no such directory as /from nor /destination.  You have to provide REAL file path information.  The / separates directory names.

     

    Also if there are spaces in the directory names, you MUST quote them.

     

    You can either put the path in single quotes '...' or double quotes "..." or you can put a backslash before each space this\ is\ a\ backslash\ quoted\ string

     

    'TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF Media'

    "TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF Media"

    TOSHIBA\ MK7559GSXF\ Media

     

    And

     

    'My Backup'

    "My Backup"

    My\ Backup

     

    And you need to figure out what the directories are for /from and /destination.  /from/ and /destination/ are not magical.  You need to put something real as the path to the starting directory and place you are transferring the data.

     

    If the starting/from directory is in the current working directory, then you do not need to put anything in front of the first directory.

  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Apr 1, 2016 4:44 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 1, 2016 4:44 PM in response to BobHarris

    I've been attempting to determine the proper directory with little luck. I thought using ls would give me the directories. All I get is . forward    Library. I've also tried using mount  and dr  -h with little luck as I'm not really sure what I'm looking at. I wish I was more proficient in this. Unless you can derive a directory from the attached photos I will probably have to just wipe the drive clean and start over as I'm out out ideas.  Any directories from these photos? lol IMG_3754.JPGIMG_3756.JPGIMG_3757.JPGThanks for all your help.

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 1, 2016 5:24 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 1, 2016 5:24 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village

    How are you booted?  From Recovery Mode (Boot holding Command-R), or Single User Mode (Boot holding Command-S)

     

    Looking at an earlier ls of /, I do not see 'Users' directory which is where user accounts are stored.  So I'm wondering if this is Recovery Mode.

     

    You might try

    /usr/sbin/diskutil list

    which should tell you what devices are out there and their volume names.

     

    the 'mount' command tells you want is mounted, not what is unmounted.

     

    Did your disk have FileVault whole disk encryption?  If so, you may need to use get it mounted first.  When I'm had to mount my FileVault encrypted boot volume from Recovery Mode, I have use Menu -> Utilities -> Disk Utility.  Selected my encrypted boot disk, then gone to the Disk Utility -> Edit -> Unlock, which prompted me for my password.  Then my FileVault encrypted boot disk was mounted, and I had full access to it.

     

    And you should be able to navigate to your home directory, if you can get any part of your boot disk mounted.  If you are in Single User mode, then your home directory should be /Users/<yourUnixUserNameHere>.  If you are in Recovery Mode, then if you get the Boot device mounted, you would find your home folder in /Volumes/<nameOfYourBootVolume>/Users/<yourUnixNameHere>

  • by rccharles,

    rccharles rccharles Apr 1, 2016 6:38 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 6 (8,464 points)
    Classic Mac OS
    Apr 1, 2016 6:38 PM in response to BobHarris

    Here is a technique I worked out with mac os 10.4.  You need to put in a formatted flash drive before starting the machine.

     

     

    You may try to recover your data by booting up an installation cd/dvd and using the terminal.
    You could try getting into the Unix command line interface and copy some files or directories. You can copy files on the Unix command line interface if you placed the flash drive the USB port before powering on your machine.

    0) you best have the flash drive formatted for the Mac.  See disk utility.  It's on the pull down.
    1) You can copy files on the Unix command line interface if you placed the flash drive in a USB port before powering on your machine.
    2) Boot up your installation CD or DVD. To do this, place to the CD or DVD its drive. [ or boot the recovery partition via command r
    3) Power off the the machine. Hold down the c key then power on your machine.
    4) After you specify the language you will come to the installation panel.
    5) Do not install.
    6) Go to the top of the screen and click on the tools menu item.
    7) Click on Terminal to use the command line interface.
    Boot up your installation CD or DVD. To do this, place to the CD or DVD its drive. Power off the the machine. Hold down the c key then power on your machine. After you specify the language you will come to the installation panel. Do not install. Go to the top of the screen and click on the tools menu item. Click on Terminal to use the command line interface.

    You should verify that the files have been copied correctly by trying them in another Mac before it the deleting the original.

    Here is an overview of the  commands. Lets assume that the problem account has a short user name of mac.
    #Copy directory "/Applications/Applescript files" to
    # directory "/Volumes/Spotless/Applescript files".
    # "Spotless" is my flash drive.
    ditto  -X -rsrc   /Applications/Applescript\ files     /Volumes/Spotless/Applescript\ files


    #cd is change directory
    cd /Volumes/COPYIT/answers/
    # pwd is print working directory
    pwd
    #the ls command is for list
    # l is long
    # a to show hidden files. not shown in this example.
    # F is type of file where / is directory
    sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command.  l is a lower case L
    sh-2.05b# ls -lF

    Here is what these commands mean:
    cd is change directory
    pwd is a print working directory
    ls is list
    sudo is Super user do
    # The sudo command will ask for your administration password. No characters will appear when typing your password. Press return when done typing.
    cp is copy

    copy a file example:
    sh-2.05b#
    sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
    sh-2.05b# pwd
    /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
    sh-2.05b# cp -i  answers.txt  /Volumes/SpotMore

    Will copy the file answers.txt in the directory SpotMore.


    1. Some files have a space in the name. You need to escape. see example:

      mac $ ls -l ~/"see it"
      -rw-r--r-- 1 mac staff 3171 Oct 26 23:38 /Users/mac/see it
      mac $
      mac $ cd /Users/mac/Desktop/ttt\ html\ copy/

    2. Do you know about tabing? Type in a few letters of a name then press the tab key. The computer will type out the rest of the name if it is unique.
    3. The up arrow key will retrive the previous command.  You the left arror and right arror keys to move around.  Use the delete key to delete a character to the left.

     

     


    *More examples and moving around*

    sh-2.05b# pwd
    /
    sh-2.05b# ls /Volumes
    .Trashes        Classic                Macintosh-HD
    ._.Trashes      Mac OS X Install DVD   SpotMore
    sh-2.05b#
    sh-2.05b# df -h
    Filesystem      Size   Used  Avail Capacity  Mounted on
    /dev/disk4s3    2.6G   2.5G    89M    97%    /
    devfs           121K   121K     0B   100%    /dev
    fdesc           1.0K   1.0K     0B   100%    /dev
    <volfs>         512K   512K     0B   100%    /.vol
    /dev/disk5      467K   9.0K   435K     2%    /Volumes
    /dev/disk6       95K    64K    27K    70%    /private/var/tmp
    /dev/disk7       95K    14K    77K    15%    /private/var/run
    /dev/disk3s1    3.7G   1.3G   2.5G    34%    /Volumes/SpotMore
    /dev/disk0s10   1.1G   1.1G   3.4M   100%    /Volumes/Classic
    /dev/disk0s12    70G    45G    25G    65%    /Volumes/Macintosh-HD
    sh-2.05b#
    sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/SpotMore/
    sh-2.05b# pwd
    /Volumes/SpotMore
    sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command.  l is a lower case L
    sh-2.05b# ls -l
    total 880
    -rw-r--r--    1 unknown  unknown    6148 Sep 10  2010 .DS_Store
    drw-------    4 unknown  unknown     136 Aug 25  2010 .Spotlight-V100
    drwxrwxrwt    3 unknown  unknown     102 Sep  3  2010 .TemporaryItems
    d-wx-wx-wt    3 unknown  unknown     102 Sep 10  2010 .Trashes
    drwx------    3 unknown  unknown     102 Sep  3  2010 Desktop
    -rw-r--r--    1 unknown  unknown   18944 Aug 27  2010 Desktop DB
    -rw-r--r--    1 unknown  unknown       2 Jul 29  2010 Desktop DF
    -rwxrwxrwx    1 unknown  unknown   26281 Oct 27  2009 Warranty Information.PDF
    drwxr-xr-x   13 unknown  unknown     442 Aug  4  2010 backup
    drwxr-xr-x   13 unknown  unknown     442 Aug  4  2010 backupPrior
    drwxr-xr-x    7 unknown  unknown     238 Aug 27  2010 cons
    drwxr-xr-x   65 unknown  unknown    2210 Sep  4  2010 iMac-back
    ... clipped ...
    sh-2.05b#
    sh-2.05b# cd /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
    sh-2.05b# pwd
    /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
    sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command.  l is a lower case L
    sh-2.05b# ls
    Z2300               iMac
    .DS_Store            move
    .FBCIndex            new Belward
    .FBCLockFolder       primary-comments-new copy.doc
    Consolidate-rc       primary-comments-new.doc
    Downloads            psc 1200
    ... clipped ...

    sh-2.05b# ditto -X -rsrc iMac /Volumes/SpotMore/iMac-back
    sh-2.05b#
    sh-2.05b# # Please note ls is the list command.  l is a lower case L
    sh-2.05b# ls -h /Volumes/SpotMore/iMac-back/
    total 2800
    -rw-r--r--    1 unknown  unknown    24K Sep 12  2010 .DS_Store
    -rw-r--r--    1 unknown  unknown     2K Apr 18  2010 Differentiate Between Models .html
    ... clipped ...

    sh-2.05b# pwd
    /Volumes/Macintosh-HD/Users/mac/desktop
    sh-2.05b# ls
    Z2300               iMac
    .DS_Store            move
    .FBCIndex            new Belward
    .FBCLockFolder       primary-comments-new copy.doc
    ... clipped ...

    sh-2.05b#

  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Apr 2, 2016 12:56 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2016 12:56 PM in response to BobHarris

    I am working in Recovery Mode. Neither Apple nor myself could get single use mode to boot. To answer your question: Did your disk have FileVault whole disk encryption?  If so, you may need to use get it mounted first.   went to File as Edit did not have the options you mentioned (see photos) I have no option of "Unlock" only to change password and turn off encryption which I tried and nothing happened. My understanding from all this is that it needs to be mounted for me to access it. I followed your instructions as to /usr/sbin/diskutil list but without it mounted I'm not sure I can use the info (see photo). I also tried in disk utilities to repair with no luck and also used diskutil verifyVolume "Macintosh HD"and diskutil repairVolume "Macintosh HD"and the same I was told it could not be repaired. I think I've tried everything at my 'education' level of this to obtain my files. I appreciate all of your help and patience with me. I think I'm going to just have to start over with a clean drive unfortunately. Kills me to give up lol IMG_3765.JPGIMG_3764.JPGIMG_3763.JPGIMG_3762.JPG

  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Apr 2, 2016 1:08 PM in response to rccharles
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2016 1:08 PM in response to rccharles

    I'll give it a try…thanks!

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 2, 2016 6:33 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2016 6:33 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village

    Screen Shot 2016-04-02 at 9.23.53 PM.png

    It would seem disk0s2 is your internal disk that may or may not have all your data on it.

     

    I think you might need to use Disk Utility to mount "Macintosh HD"

    IMG_3762.JPG

     

    Then you should see /Volumes/Macintosh HD in your system

     

    Then this command "Might" work.  I do not know if it will, just that it sounds good

     

    /usr/bin/ditto -X --rsrc −−extattr −−qtn −−acl −−preserveHFSCompression    /Volumes/Macintosh\ HD    /Volumes/My\ Backup
    
  • by hilaryfromwestlake village,

    hilaryfromwestlake village hilaryfromwestlake village Apr 2, 2016 7:02 PM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2016 7:02 PM in response to BobHarris

    When I clicked on "Mount Macintosh HD" nothing appeared to happen and I ran the "verify" again on it after to see if anything had changed and it hadn't. It's still not showing as Mounted in Disk Utility at the bottom. Not sure if I should see anything different after clicking the Mount command???? but I will try it again and then run your last suggested code Fingers crossed lol

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Apr 2, 2016 7:07 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village
    Level 6 (19,272 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 2, 2016 7:07 PM in response to hilaryfromwestlake village

    If it will not mount, and repair does not make it mountable, then I do not think you will be able to recover data on that disk without a disk recovery service.

     

    Google: "os x data recovery"

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